WHILE the bulk of the senior Irish riders have been competing on home turf, the enterprising team at River Lodge Eventing made a successful foray to the international fixture in Maarsbergen, Holland.

With qualifications to gain, Michelle Kenny and Rafael Sanctuary travelled with six horses, among which was the highly rated Poynstown Will. With Kenny in the saddle, the son of Ars Vivendi lived up to expectations to fill the runner up spot in the feature CCI2*, while her second ride Aspe completed in 10th spot.

Sanctuary was kept busy in the CCI*, where he creditably landed seventh and eighth placings with the seven-year-olds RLE Laught Bedazzled and RLE Spencers Dream.

In England, Mark Kyle is still on the sidelines with a broken ankle, but fellow internationals Jonty Evans and Aoife Clark have been gaining good mileage with a mixed team of horses. Clark is making quite an impression with her new advanced ride Colorfast, who has picked up some solid placings in two-star and advanced company. Evans, meanwhile, has been concentrating on the youngsters, and was pleased to report that the smart Gambesie headed his novice regional finals in Pontispool.

Austin O’Connor and Sam Watson took part at the international in Barbury Castle last weekend. Disappointed with the ground conditions, Watson travelled home without running either of his horses across country, while in the Event Riders Masters, O’Connor produced a very competitive dressage test (40.5) with Kilpatrick Knight, before dropping out of contention in the final phase.

At the opposite end of the country, former Co Carlow resident Fred Scala is making an impression with the Ars Vivendi sired eight-year-old Corriebeg Vivendi. The lightly campaigned gelding has stepped up to the novice (CNC*) ranks this year, and has just landed back to back wins at Bicton and Treborough Hill.

It is also good to see young rider Susie Berry back in action following her broken ankle. Enjoying a good run, she won the BE100 at Buckminster with Fernhill Smart Choice, was placed second with Fernhill G and capping the week, was named as a member of Ireland’s young rider squad for next week’s European Championships in Millstreet.